Dow Futures are showing a slight increase, as the market prepares for a week filled with corporate earnings reports, set against a backdrop of escalating concerns regarding the artificial intelligence sector. Oil prices have declined following the announcement by U.S. President Donald Trump regarding waivers for Russian sanctions, which has raised expectations for an increase in global crude supplies. Shares of China’s ChangXin Memory Technologies have declined despite a profit turnaround, even as China’s economic growth shows improvement in the third quarter.
Dow futures indicated an upward trajectory on Monday. By 03:06, the Dow futures contract had risen by 215 points, or 0.4%, S&P 500 futures had climbed by 53 points, or 0.7%, and Nasdaq 100 futures had gained 384 points, or 1.3%. The primary indices on Wall Street experienced a decline on Friday, influenced by “considerably darker” investor sentiment regarding AI, as noted by analysts. Concerns have escalated regarding the viability of the substantial debt and equity issuances aimed at facilitating the swift expansion of AI infrastructure. Concurrently, media reports from the previous week indicated that Anthropic, the creator of Claude, experienced strong quarterly revenue growth, albeit with a sequential slowdown. “[W]hile many stocks are still above their summer lows, the psychology towards the group seems worse than it was in June and July, due in large part to the dramatic worsening in certain pockets of the AI credit market,” the analysts said. The AI jitters have threatened to bleed into other assets, with analysts flagging that the U.S. dollar “could be a laggard in further stock market instability.” However, they contended that the dollar is unlikely to be on the verge of a significant decline.
AI is expected to be a focal point this week, as several major technology firms are set to disclose their most recent quarterly earnings. Meta Platforms is set to report its earnings after the closing bell on Wednesday. Over the last month, the owner of Facebook has made significant progress in the pursuit of AI capabilities, attributed to the favourable reception of its newly launched Muse AI model. Muse amassed millions of downloads following its launch in September, highlighting the demand for its diverse services, which encompass assistance with travel bookings and the establishment of small business tools. Meta has since sought to broaden the scope of the technology, unveiling an open-weight iteration of its Muse Spark model for coding. In addition to Meta, Tesla, led by Elon Musk, is scheduled to report its earnings following the market close on Wednesday. Last week, the company garnered international attention following a successful live demonstration in which one of its booster-powered vehicles executed a controlled landing.
Elsewhere, there was a significant decline in oil prices. Markets are adjusting their expectations in light of potentially enhanced supplies following the recent decision by U.S. President Donald Trump to waive a majority of sanctions and tariffs imposed on Russia. Benchmark Brent oil futures experienced a decline of 2.6%, settling at $106.97 per barrel by 03:56. Meanwhile, U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures saw a decrease of 2.0%, reaching $99.36 per barrel. Crude experienced a significant increase of nearly 5% last week. Concerns regarding ongoing interruptions in global supply chains, particularly from the Middle East, have supported price increases. On Friday, Trump issued an executive order that suspended a range of sanctions on Russia, mere days before their implementation was scheduled to occur. Trump also waived proposed tariffs on countries importing oil from Russia. The president subsequently suggested on social media that he intends to maintain Russia’s presence at the “bargaining table” while seeking to negotiate a resolution to the Ukraine conflict. Earlier, Trump indicated that he had not yet reached a conclusive decision on the matter, while U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio asserted that Trump would require up to 60 days to evaluate the economic implications of the waivers.
China’s ChangXin Memory Technologies anticipates a more than eightfold increase in revenue for the first nine months of 2026, propelled by escalating AI-related demand for memory chips and increasing prices. The company anticipates revenue in the range of 265 billion yuan to 270 billion yuan for the period of January to September, a notable increase from 32.08 billion yuan reported in the same timeframe last year, according to its preliminary earnings estimate. Net profit attributable to shareholders is projected to be between 131 billion yuan and 132.5 billion yuan, marking a significant turnaround from a loss of 5.28 billion yuan during the corresponding period last year. Despite the robust outlook, CXMT shares experienced a decline, as investors maintain significantly heightened expectations from AI-related companies.
China’s economy expanded slightly beyond forecasts in the third quarter of 2026, bolstered by robust exports and heightened demand for artificial intelligence. Gross domestic product experienced a year-on-year increase of 4.5% in the quarter ending September 30, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics. The figure exceeded expectations with a 4.4% increase, showing an acceleration from the 4.3% rise in the previous quarter. Beijing had previously set its sights on an annual growth rate ranging from 4.5% to 5%. GDP expanded by 1.2% on a quarter-on-quarter basis, surpassing the forecasts of 1.1% and the previous quarter’s growth of 0.9%. In the initial three quarters of 2026, the figure increased by 4.6%.
